Since childhood, Ontario’s Murvil Crawford had been fascinated by airplanes.

“I always wanted to be in the Air Force because I liked airplanes; I used to make my own (toy) airplanes,” he said. “I grew up on a farm and we didn’t always have a lot of money.”

Born and raised in Morehead, Kentucky, Crawford graduated from Morehead High School in May 1953, where he had played on the school’s basketball team when he wasn’t needed on the farm.

“We had 103 acres, 70 of which was cleared land,” he said. “When I graduated, I had a couple of scholarships, I was a pretty good student, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough to go to college on. Not very long after school, I got a draft and physical notice.”

Though unable to recall where military physicals were held when he was drafted, Murvil said he knew where he would be going.

“They gave me my physical and told me I’d passed,” he remarked. “I knew I’d be headed for Korea because the Korean War was going on then. I did not want the Army; I didn’t want to be on the ground where the bees (bullets) were flying all over the place. I asked the doctor or sergeant or whatever he was about going to the Air Force, and he said, ‘Oh, they may not want you.’ I asked if he could call and find out, and they (Air Force recruiter) said, ‘Yes, we have a job for him.’ I had pretty good grades in high school, so they took me. I think it was a blessing.”

Soon after, Crawford found himself at Sampson Air Force Base for basic training, located just northwest of Ithaca, New York in the Finger Lakes region.

“That water was cold as ice; I think those lakes froze solid in the winter. In the summer, when it was hot, it would get cold at night up there,” he remembered. “I was there in the summer, a good bit of it was in July.”

As far as the training itself, Murvil said, “You may not like it, but it is good for a young guy, the discipline, training and obedience you get from your TI (training instructor). They were pretty persuasive,” he chuckled. Saying that basic training was the first time he’d ever been away from home, Crawford added, “They kept you so busy all the time, you really didn’t have time to think about it (home).”

Chanute Field near Champaign, Illinois, was Crawford’s next assignment.

“They put me in hydraulics specialist training for aircraft; hydraulics (controls) are all over an aircraft. Flight controls, landing gear, speed brakes, rudders, ailerons, all that stuff is controlled by hydraulics. I spent about 48 weeks there in three different schools. They impressed upon us that, if you work on an aircraft and it doesn’t come back because of an equipment failure, it’s your (butt). You had to respect that.”

Murvil got the first chance to utilize his newly-gained skills at Larson Air Force Base in the state of Washington.

“It was at a little town called Moses Lake; it was (a part of) the Air Defense Command. I was there for two years and it was pretty good duty. Being in the ADC, there were eight squadrons there, with 30 aircraft in each squadron. We had ‘alert’ hangars with as many as eight planes inside, out of the weather; we weren’t getting along with Russia too well back then and these aircraft had three minutes to get into the air from the time they were scrambled (ordered aloft). We were using F-86 Ds at that time, and sometimes we’d get two alerts in one day, or sometimes we’d go a few days without one.”

The 81st Fighter-Interceptor Wing was based at Larson AFB, tasked with protecting American airspace and national assets such as the Hanover Atomic Works and the Grand Coulee dam from attacks by hostile forces, should they come.

After two years at Larson, Murvil Crawford volunteered for transfer to Japan for the most unlikely of reasons: love.

“A call came for overseas duty in Japan; one guy that was ordered to go was heavily in love with his girlfriend and was going to get married. He was fighting like heck to keep from having to go over (to Japan). I heard about it, so I went in and told them (commanders) that I’d go, if they needed somebody, so that he wouldn’t have to. That guy (engaged airman) was really thankful, but I wouldn’t let him kiss me,” Crawford laughed.

Airman 1st Class Crawford spent nearly two years at Kisarazu Air Base, just outside of Yokohama, where he and his group were tasked with prepping aircraft for duty in the Korean theater.

What he remembers most about Japan, though, was the trip across the Pacific Ocean to get there.

“Forty-eight days, that’s how long it took us to get over there,” Murvil quipped. “We made a stop in Hawaii along the way, but I was (sea)sick 48 days, and one extra at the end of it (trip). If you’ve never had sea-sickness, you might keep down one of every three meals. Miserable! We were on a troop ship, the Hugh J. Gaffey, I think it was, and we had 520 (personnel) aboard, including some officers’ wives. I was berthed at the very back of the ship, where you get a lot of motion. I never got nervous (about being aboard ship), just very sick.”

While at Kisarazu, Crawford said he worked on a variety of aircraft. “I started out on the F-80 Shooting Star, but we also serviced F-89s, F-90s and F-105 Thunderchiefs. We worked alongside Japanese Air Force guys, I had five in my crew, because they had some of the same aircraft as we (United States) did.”

When he finished his tour in Japan, Crawford was happy to note that he flew home.

“We flew into San Francisco, but we made stops at Midway (Island), Wake (Island) and Hawaii. The C-130 couldn’t handle that 10,000-mile flight without having to stop.”

Crawford would spend another three years as a member of the Air Force Active Reserve, stationed at Mansfield’s Lahm Airport with the Ohio Air National Guard.

“They were flying the fighter jets back then,” he said, “and I worked on planes here, too”

Murvil said he ended up in Mansfield because of his brother.

“He was working at Westinghouse and when I got home from the service he told me there was a new General Motors plant up here. I went out there and they hired me the same day.”

Working mainly in the tool and die department, Crawford spent 38 and a half years at Ontario’s G.M. plant, retiring in 1996. Along the way he met and married the former Susan Howell, who taught English at Madison schools for several decades before succumbing to cancer in June 2011. During their 37-year marriage, the couple raised two sons and a daughter. Crawford still lives in their Ontario home.

“I think young men today should spend a couple of years in the service,” Murvil observed. “I was never bitter about being in the military and I would recommend it to anyone.”